1XBet, a partner of English top-flight soccer clubs Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, has suspended its UK operations following a Sunday Times investigation into improper conduct.
The Russian gambling firm has blocked access to its site in the UK, but is still actively promoting itself on social media, including relationships with its Premier League partners.
The Sunday Times investigation into the firm’s global operations found that 1XBet was promoting a casino featuring topless croupiers, taking bets on children’s sports, advertising on illegal websites and cockfighting live streams emblazoned with the three club’s logos. In response to the findings, the Gambling Commission confirmed it had launched an investigation.
Some of the clubs’ top players, including Roberto Firmino, Willian and Olivier Giroud, have all fronted campaigns for the Russian company, which is now based in Cyprus.
The three Premier League clubs, who finished second, third and fourth last season, all have close ties to the 1XBet.
Last August, Tottenham revealed 1XBet as their official betting partner for Africa. The firm’s licence has since been suspended in Kenya – a country with an endemic problem with gambling addiction – over betting industry-wide tax issues.
Meanwhile, Chelsea and Liverpool only penned deals with 1XBet in July. Additionally, Spanish soccer champions Barcelona, ranked as the world’s fourth most valuable sports team, have a global betting partnership with the company until June 2024.
In response, 1XBet blamed its overseas marketing partners for its promotions and advertising on piracy websites.
The company told the Sunday Times: “If any of these third-party networks or partners are found to advertise the 1XBet brand on prohibited sites or sites which break the law, 1XBet shall investigate immediately.”
Betting tech company FSB Technology said players deposits would be protected on the suspended website and told the Sunday Times that it had always complied with UK regulations, adding it would renew its licensing agreement with 1XBet.
Tottenham told the UK weekly that 1XBet had assured them that it provides a safe environment to protect people from “irresponsible gambling and addiction”.
Liverpool confirmed to the Sunday Times that there were restrictions on their partnership deals to ensure all marketing content was appropriate.
Chelsea did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
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